Whether for enjoyment, for health, or for professional reasons, fitness is an important part of many peoples' lives. Many peoples' fitness routines involve the use of fitness machines such as weight machines, elliptical machines, and the like. Some of these fitness machines, however, do not provide for natural body movement during the exercise routine, which may be harmful to the user's joints and muscles. Oftentimes, the configurations of the fitness machines force the user's muscles and joints to move unnaturally. In addition, many fitness machines provide exercise for only those muscles that move some portion of the body, and mostly ignore the muscles that provide stabilization which are equally important during a person's natural movements.
It is against this background that the present invention was developed. It was recognized that natural human movements are typically natural multi-joint movements with dynamic, isolated and natural rotating movements of the extremities, with active dynamic stabilization of all joints and especially the trunk to protect the spine with all its passive structures, and that an exercise device providing natural human movement would be advantageous. It was also recognized that an exercise device providing a balance between the prime movement muscles and the stabilization muscles would be advantageous. Finally, it was recognized that close chain muscle action develops neuromuscular coordination, produce little or no sheer forces, and protects the joints with the preactivation of the joint stabilization muscles, and that an exercise device facilitating these characteristics would be advantageous. These, and other advantageous of the present invention will be evident from the following description of the present invention.